Bill Gertz reports that al Qaeda’s chief Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi may have obtained a nuclear or radiological device.
Reports reveal Zarqawi nuclear threat
Recurrent intelligence reports say al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi has obtained a nuclear device or is preparing a radiological explosive — or dirty bomb — for an attack, according to U.S. officials, who also say analysts are unable to gauge the reliability of the information’s sources. The classified reports have been distributed to U.S. intelligence agencies for several consecutive months and say Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, has stored the nuclear device or dirty bomb in Afghanistan, said officials familiar with the intelligence.
One official said the intelligence is being questioned because analysts think al Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear device if it had one. However, the fact that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has reported the nuclear threat in several classified reports distributed since December indicates concern about it.
I, too, tend to think that Zarqawi and gang would use such a device immediately if they had the capability. Still, a nuclear-armed al Qaeda is our post-9/11 nightmare scenario.
